Journal of the San Juans, September 18, 2013

Page 1

Local

Baby orca gets a new name... oh Joy! page 5

Special Section

Editorial

Pioneer festival pays tribute to the past

Forget about the blame game; helping students succeed rests with us... answer the call

page 9-12

page XXX

Journal

The 75¢ Wednesday, September 18, 2013 Vol. 106 Issue 38

of the San Juan Islands

www.sanjuanjournal.com

CAO Boost in funds spurs new projects yields mixed results By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter

By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor

San Juan County will be headed back to the drawing board with its critical areas ordinance. In a decision handed down Sept. 6, the Washington State Growth Management Hearings Board determined that while much of the ordinance satisfies goals of the state Growth Management Act, there remain 10 elements of the controversial revision of the county CAO that do not comply with state law. From buffer widths to best available science, and from wetland water quality protection to exemptions allowed for utilities in public and private right-ofways, 10 portions of the CAO will need to be revisited and reconstructed as a result of the Hearings Board ruling. In spite of the shortcomings, Prosecuting Attorney Randy Gaylord said the ruling is a welcomed result. “Overall, this is a positive ruling for the county,” Gaylord said in a press release. “The Growth Board upheld the county’s extraordinary public participation process, the method of identifying and designating critical areas, and the site-specific approach to calculating buffer sizes.” The 1990 Growth Management Act and 1998 amendments to the GMA mandated that local governments prepare and periodically review See Results, Page 4

Journal photo / Steve Wehrly

Town workers install a new curb and walkway on Spring Street, one of five construction projects underway starting this fall.

Heart for arts sake

See projects, Page 5 Left; Friday Harbor’s Diane Martindale is the firstever San Juan County resident to be appointed to the Washington State Arts Commission. She begins her three-year tenure in November.

By Scott Rasmussen Journal editor

To find a large stack of mail to sift through after returning from a longoverdue vacation was to be expected. But within that stack was one letter that caught Diane Martindale almost completely by surprise. “I had resigned myself to ‘well that didn’t happen’,” Martindale said of an appointment to the Washington State Arts Commission. “I thought the time period of when the appointments would be made and announced had already passed. And I hadn’t heard anything.”

After weathering a severe budget downturn, the Town of Friday Harbor appears to be in recovery mode. The proof can be seen in the streets, especially on Spring Street, from Mullis to the waterfront. And in meetings of the town council, where plans are being perused and projects approved. Economic activity and tax receipts grew in 2012, in large part because of construction of Peace Island Medical Center. For 2013, although sales tax revenues are still below prerecession levels, they are rising steadily, as are lodging tax receipts. Gary Franklin of Windermere reports increased activity in real estate this summer and looks forward to even stronger sales in 2014. David Nash of Nash Brother Sporting Goods says summer sales were the best in five years, and post-Labor Day traffic has been “strong.” Because reserves in various town funds are healthy, necessary maintenance and some improvements could be budgeted, according to Town Administrator Duncan Wilson. There

Contributed photo

Instead, the governor’s office just hadn’t gotten around to considering applications or new appointments to various state boards because of unfinished state budgetary business that prompted a special six-week session of the

state legislature and interrupted a timely appointment process. Martindale opened the envelope to discover that, by appointment of Gov. Jay Inslee, she is now San Juan County’s first-ever represenSee HEart, Page 4

2011 Special Award; Second Place: General Excellence from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association

Real Estate

in the

Free Map Inside!

San Juan Islands September 2013

Properties Bought & Sold ……………………pag e 13

Contributed photo

Published the third Wednesda y of each month by the Journal of the San Juan Islands, Islands’ Sounder and Islands’

Windermere gives you more opportunities to find the property that’s right for you. Get a Free Market Report

Weekly

Look inside for a free San Juan Island map with locations of represented homes for sale.

With a QR code reader on your smartphone, you’ll be able to see the website of each property, including a photo gallery and directions. For island home buying videos and tips, see: BeOnSanJuan .com 50 Spring Street, (360)378-360 0 or (800)262-3596 • Open

Everyday • www.winde

rmeresji.com ALL ISLANDS

Real Estate in the San Juan Islands

See inside for August’s real estate sales, listings and statistics.


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